


Perfect Shot

by twtd



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sports, F/F, golf isn’t as boring as it looks I promise, rating may increase later, who knows where this is going to end? I sure don’t
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26571586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twtd/pseuds/twtd
Summary: It’s rough, losing her first major tournament to Rapunzel. She had been so close. Inches away. What’s even rougher? Losing her heart.Or, the professional golfer AU that no one asked for.As she retrieved her ball, she saw Rapunzel lining up her shot. It was practically a gimmie, and anywhere outside of a major tournament, Cassandra wouldn’t even force Rapunzel to putt it. But things happened at tournaments and sometimes easy shots became hard. It wasn’t going to be that sort of day for Rapunzel though.
Relationships: Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 23





	Perfect Shot

**Author's Note:**

> I had a very bad day and fell headlong into this series while I tried to cope with it. I still haven’t finished it, but I think I know enough to write this little AU that I’ve cooked up. I don’t know where it’s going, how long it’ll be, or when I’ll be updating it. It definitely wasn’t supposed to have more than one chapter, but here we are. So enter at your own risk. 
> 
> Still, I love these little idiots and I just want to smush them together and make them kiss, so that’s what I’m doing.

_Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle._

Cassandra held her breath as she watched the golf ball roll slowly toward the hole. She needed it to go in. It was early Sunday evening, just before seven o’clock. The light was waning, her shadow long across the green, practically pointing at where she needed her ball to go. Gradually, the ball stopped rolling. She was short. There was less than an inch between her ball and the hole, but she had needed the birdie to tie the game and force a playoff. Her chin hit her chest in dejectment. She’d lost. Sure, she’d take the prize money for coming in second, but second still meant she lost. She needed to finish the game though. She lifted her head, walked over and barely addressed the ball before tapping it in the hole. 

As she retrieved her ball, she saw Rapunzel lining up her shot. It was practically a gimmie, and anywhere outside of a major tournament, Cassandra wouldn’t even force Rapunzel to putt it. But things happened at tournaments and sometimes easy shots became hard. It wasn’t going to be that sort of day for Rapunzel though. She easily made the putt then threw herself into her caddy’s arms. There were rumors that Rapunzel was dating Eugene, but neither of the pair had confirmed the relationship. Still, with the way they wrapped their arms around each other, it wouldn’t come as a shock to anyone if they were. 

She rolled her ball between her fingers as she absently handed Varian her putter to put back in her bag. She pulled out her scorecard, wrote in her par, and headed off of the green while everyone else had their attention on Rapunzel. She just wanted to sign her scorecard and hit the locker room. The tournament was over. It was time to go home.

* * *

Rapunzel watched Cassandra walk off of the course dejected. She knew how it felt to lose a close game, but something told her it she didn’t feel it the same way Cassandra did. She wished she could make the other woman feel better, but that seemed unlikely. 

“C’mon Blondie,” Eugine squeezed an arm around her shoulders, “Go sign your scorecard and then we can go out and celebrate!” He let her go, then hefted her golf bag onto his shoulder. 

“Right,” she said absently as she continued to watch Cassandra. Eugene waved a hand in front of her eyes. 

“Earth to Rapunzel.” She snapped her attention back to the people around her as she ducked out of the way of Eugene’s hand. 

“What?” She blinked a few times to clear her vision. 

“You know, you shouldn’t worry about the maiden of despair over there.” He pointed toward Cassandra. “If she had won, she probably wouldn’t have given you a second thought.” 

“That’s not true.” Rapunzel pushed Eugene away good naturedly. “You know Cassandra isn’t as bad as all that.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Can we skip the ‘Cassandra is secretly a cheerful and happy person’ routine?” Eugene smiled his most roguish smile. “Let’s go get drinks and celebrate your latest win, okay?” 

“Okay, okay,” Rapunzel laughed and started walking toward the clubhouse to sign her card. “We’ll go get drinks and you can drunkenly ask me to marry you again.” 

“Hey! That only happened once!” 

Rapunzel gave him a significant look. 

“Okay, twice.” 

She just kept looking at him. 

“Okay, three times, but I can’t remember the third one, so it doesn’t count. You could just be making it up.” 

Rapunzel rolled her eyes. “Let’s go, Eugene.” She tugged on his arm and guided him into the tunnel that would lead to the club house.

* * *

Cassandra looked up as the door to the locker room opened behind her. Shit. It could only be one person. Everyone else had cleared out by now. She should have been faster to get out of the room, instead of wallowing in her sports bra and shorts. She just hadn’t had the energy to finish getting undressed or change. 

“That was a touch match. You really put up a fight.” Rapunzel carefully took the seat next to Cassandra even though her own locker was on the other side of the room.

“Still lost.” It might have been more sportsman-like to congratulate her opponant, but she wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. 

Rapunzel didn’t have an answer for that, so she just shrugged.

Cassandra sighed heavily and slumped down a little. “What did you want, Princess?”

She hadn’t meant to let the ‘princess’ part slip out. It was just a stupid nickname she had come up with one day when Rapunzel had been particularly on her game and it looked like she ruled the golf course. It wasn’t something Rapunzel was ever supposed to know about. Rapunzel didn’t look offended though. If anything she looked...pleased. 

“Eugene and I are going to get drinks after I get cleaned up. I thought you might want to come too?” 

“Why would I want to get drinks with you?” Cassandra couldn’t imagine what possessed Rapunzel to invite her. She’d just _lost_. Why would she want to go out and celebrate?

“You came in second in a major tournament. You did better than a ninety-eight other people. You should be proud of that.” Rapunzel reached out and took Cassandra’s hand. It was all Cassandra could do not to flinch at the contact. It brought into stark relief just how little clothing she was wearing. 

“Don’t tell me what I should be proud of.” Cassandra pulled her hand away and stood up. She winced when she looked down and saw how hurt Rapunzel looked at her abrupt dismissal. 

“Sorry.” Rapunzel brushed some of her long, blonde hair back behind an ear. She stood up too. “Just, if you change your mind, we’ll be down at the bar. Eugene gets loud when he gets drunk, so we should be easy to spot.” Rapunzel patted Cassandra on the back of one shoulder before heading off to her own locker. 

Cassandra’s cheeks flared bright red at the contact. She really, really needed to put on more clothing. 

* * *

The problem with Corona, the small country where the tournament was held every year, was that it only had one bar worth going to: The Ugly Duckling. Unless you wanted to drink in your room at the hotel, it was the only place to go. Cassandra really didn’t feel like being alone that night, so after forcing herself into some real clothing, form fitting jeans and a slouchy, off the shoulder shirt, she walked down the lightly populated streets to the bar.

She opened the door and winced at how loud the place already was. She really just wanted a drink. She spotted an empty seat at the end of the bar and slid into it. The noise was a little less intrusive and Cassandra could hear herself think again. She motioned toward the bartender, and when he came over, ordered a scotch. A minute later and it was sitting in front of her. She took a sip, relaxing as the peaty flavor hit her tastebuds. Maybe if she drank enough, she could forget this disaster of a day.

* * *

Rapunzel noticed the moment Cassandra walked into the bar. It was like she had this little internal sensor that went off whenever Cassandra was around. She didn’t know why she had it, but she didn’t question it too much. She watched as Cassandra sat at the bar, as she ordered her drink, as she sat and stared down into her glass. Rapunzel wanted to go talk to her, but she didn’t know what else she could say that she hadn’t said in the locker room. 

She was distracted from her thoughts as Eugene pushed his way through the crowd that had gathered around them as they celebrated. He had a drink tray with what had to be the bar’s entire collection of shot glasses balanced on it along with a bottle of tequila and a bowl with an assortment of cut limes in it. Rapunzel had just won several million dollars, she could afford to buy the bar a round of shots.

Eugene sat the tray down and started pouring out shots, passing them around. 

“Y’know, Blondie,” Eugene said as he finally sat down. “This is the life. Sunday night, after a good win, celebrating with a few dozen new friends.” He raised his glass. “To winning!” 

Rapunzel laughed at Eugene’s antics but lifted her own glass, distracted from what Cassandra was doing. “To winning!” 

A cheer went up around the bar as they clinked glasses and threw back the shots. Cassandra looked over her shoulder at them, but she didn’t seem interested in the festivities. Still, Rapunzel had invited Cassandra to drinks and Cassandra had shown up. Rapunzel needed to go talk to her. 

“I’ll be right back.” Rapunzel shouted at Eugene through the noise of the bar. He gave her a thumbs up as she grabbed the bottle of tequila and a couple of clean glasses. 

She made her way across the bar on slightly unsteady feet until she was standing next to Cassandra. The bottle and glasses clinked as she set them down. 

“Want a drink?” Rapunzel nudged one of the glasses toward Cassandra. “I bought the house a round. That includes you.” 

“No thanks,” Cassandra nudged the glass back at Rapunzel. Rapunzel just blinked, not quite sure how someone could turn her down. 

“Please?” She looked at Cassandra pleadingly. Something about it must have done the trick, because a minute later, Cassandra softened. 

“Alright. One drink.” 

“Yippee!” Rapunzel bounced up and down and clapped her hands together. Then she reached for the bottle, nearly knocking it over in her exuberance. 

Cassandra reached out and enveloped Rapunzel’s hands in her own. “Why don’t you let me do that for you, Princess?” 

Cassandra’s hands felt warm around hers and she tried not to shiver. She tried not to let the disappointment show when Cassandra let go. She tried not to pout. She couldn’t tell if she succeeded at any of them.

Rapunzel watched with rapt attention as Cassandra poured two shots of tequila for them. The astute bartender supplied them with a couple of limes on a plate. 

Cassandra went to lift her shot to her mouth, but Rapunzel reached out and stopped her.

“We have to toast to something.” 

“Okaaaay.” Cassandra looked at Rapunzel skeptically. 

“What? We do,” Rapunzel said with certaintity. It was a rule, wasn’t it? Eugene had told her it was a rule when they had first started drinking together. 

“What should we toast to then?”

“Oh, uhm, I’m not sure.” Rapunzel looked down at the bar and then back at Casandra. “To golf? No, that’s lame.” She shook her head and thought about it. She thought about it long enough for Cassandra to start to get antsy. Before Cassandra could say anything though, Rapunzel lifted her head and nodded. 

“To new friends.” She said it with surety, as if their continued friendship was guaranteed. 

Cassandra looked at her searchingly before lifting her own glass again. “To new friends, then.” They both took their shots then sucked on the lime wedges. Once she tossed the rind away, Rapunzel beamed at Cassandra. A shadow of a smile appeared on Cassandra’s face. 

Taking that as encouragement, Rapunzel pulled out the barstool next to Cassandra’s and sat down. 

“So, what’re you drinking?” Rapunzel nodded toward Cassandra’s glass.

“Scotch.” 

Rapunzel made a face. She really didn’t like scotch, but if that’s what Cassandra was drinking, she’d go along with it. 

Cassandra laughed at the look of disgust on Rapunzel’s face. “Don’t worry, Princess, we can get you something different to drink.” 

Rapunzel exhaled in relief. “Oh good.” A minute later, the bartender was placing a glass of wine in front of Rapunzel and Rapunzel took a sip, smiling happily as it slid down her throat. She settled further into the seat next to Cassandra and prepared to stay there. Eugene could have plenty of fun without her.

* * *

Cassandra groaned at the light peaking through the curtains hit her eyes. She tried to move her arm where she could cover her eyes only to find her limb pinned underneath something. She groaned again as she cracked her eyes open to see what was lying on top of her. A woman. A woman was lying on top of her. That was…fine, she supposed. It wouldn’t be the first time she had taken someone back to her hotel room after a tournement had ended. Things from the night before were fuzzy though, and normally she had a better memory of what had happened leading up to the morning after. 

The woman made a soft sound and Cassandra refocused on her. That’s when she noticed the blonde hair spread out on the pillow. They very familiar blonde hair.

Shit. 

Fuck.

No, no, no. She couldn’t have. She _wouldn’t_ have. There was no way. 

“Cass?” Rapunzel’s voice was scratchy, but it was unmistakably Rapunzel’s voice. What had happened? How had they gotten back to Cassandra’s hotel room? So many questions ran through Cassanrda’s mind and she couldn’t keep up with them, let alone come up with answers. 

“Yeah?” Cassandra winced. She knew however Rapunzel reacted, it wouldn’t be good. 

“‘m cold.” A hand flailed over Rapunzel’s side until she managed to catch ahold of Cassandra’s shirt and pull her closer. 

Shirt. She was still wearing her shirt. Her jeans were gone, but her underwear was still there and her shirt was still there and finally taking stock of her body, it didn’t feel like she had had sex the night before. Maybe this wasn’t the disaster she thought it was. Still, she was curled up in her bed with Rapunzel, so it definitely wasn’t good. 

Now, she was lying in bed with Rapunzel in her arms, snuggled up close to her. How did she get out of this? Maybe Rapunzel would fall back asleep and she could sneak out of the room. 

“Cass?” Cassandra was close enough to feel Rapunzel’s voice in her chest. So much for Rapunzel falling back asleep. 

“Yeah?” What else could she say?

“You’re freaking out, aren’t you? You’re really, really freaking out.” 

“Uh, no. Of course not. Why would I be freaking out?” Cassandra’s eyes were wide and she felt like she could barely breathe. 

Rapunzel shifted and rolled over and now she was much, much closer than Cassandra felt comfortable with. She tried to squirm away, but Rapunzel was still lying on her arm, pinning her in place. She stopped breathing entirely when Rapunzel brought her hand up and cupped the side of her face with it. 

“Please don’t freak out. I mean, we didn’t do anything. It was just that the bar was closing and we were having so much fun and I didn’t want to go back to my room. So you were nice enough to say I could come to yours. We just talked for awhile and snuggled and you fell alseep. I probably should have left, but I was so comfortable that I didn’t want to go. So I just…went to sleep too.” 

“So we just fell asleep?” Cassandra needed to ask. She needed to be sure. It wasn’t necessarily above her to take home a drunken hookup, but it was never anyone she knew, never anyone she would have to see again. 

“Yeah.” Rapunzel brushed her thumb over Cassandra’s cheek before withdrawing her hand entirely. “In fact, I should probably get back to my own room. I need a shower before I have to check out.” 

“Right.” Cassandra watched Rapunzel roll out of the bed and onto her feet. A part of her already missed Rapunzel’s presence in her arms. But that was silly. And if they hadn’t done anything, why did she feel like she’d just gotten away with something? She couldn’t stop herself from watching Rapunzel slide her shorts up long, tanned legs, but she closed her eyes before Rapunzel could turn around and catch her. 

“I had a good time last night,” Rapunzel said as she tried to smooth her wrinkled shirt down. “We should do it again.”

“We should?” What did that mean? What did Rapunzel want to do again?

“Yeah, I mean, the talking and the hanging out. Maybe a little less of the drinking next time though. My head is killing me.” 

It didn’t look like Rapunzel was any worse for wear, but maybe she was mentioning a headache to make Cassandra feel better about her own obvious hangover. 

“Yeah. Sure.” Cassandra levered herself upright, sitting cross legged on the bed with the covers pooled around her waist. She didn’t think it would ever happen again. Not really. Why would literal sunshine want to spend more time with the grumpiest player on the tour? They’d shared drinks the night before because Rapunzel felt some sort of obligation after winning so tightly a constested match, that was all. 

“Great.” Rapunzel’s sunniest smile was back on display, or at least it felt like it to Cassandra. Then Rapunzel leaned forward and kissed Cassandra’s forehead, leaving Cassandra complete gob-smacked. She stared as Rapunzel said goodbye and bounced out of the room. 

Oh, no. Oh, no no no. Cassandra was not going to develop a thing for the tour’s sweetheart. If anyone found out, she’d never hear the end of it. This wasn’t happening. 

Cassandra flopped backward into the bed. She needed to get up and get ready to leave, but she couldn’t find the energy. She would get up in a few minutes. _After_ she convinced herself that she didn’t have a crush on Rapunzel.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are the best thing ever! I’m on tumblr @twtd11


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